Here’s a fun card I made using a leftover piece from this month’s Paper Pumpkin kit, and the included stamps. Besides the complete materials for the projects in the kit, Stampin’ Up! always provides extra pieces to do your own thing.

Here is a quick view of this month’s kit.

Here is a close up of the goodie bags.

I used a leftover oval tag and stamped it with Tangelo Twist (included in the kit) and Tuxedo Black Memento Ink with the included stamps. I popped it on top of my card with Dimensionals.

Inside, I just added a small piece of Very Vanilla for signing, and stamped it in Tangelo Twist with the included stamp.

Dimensional Support – Designer Series Paper is thinner than cardstock, so besides using Dimensionals in the corners, I also placed one in the center and one along the middle of each side.

Go easy on yourself – I adhered a transfer adhesive sheet to Basic Black cardstock before die cutting the Stripe Scallop piece. That way, I wouldn’t have to apply adhesive to the thin scallps by hand. If you don’t have the sheets, then use Tombow liquid and just dab in various spots around the edges of the die cut. It doesn’t have to go everywhere. Save the punch out pieces of the die for a reverse effect or use for a roof design.

Memento Vs StazOn – When stamping black images, I prefer to use Memento for a nice solid image, especially on the new Photopolymer stamps. StazOn tends to stick to the polymer stamps, but if you do any water coloring, you must use StazOn. For anything else, you can use Memento.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ll come back! To view my class list or purchase anything you have seen here, go to Stampin’ Bon. Click Here to purchase a Paper Pumpkin subscription,

Stampin’ Up!’s White Christmas set is so much fun, giving you a variety of choices to use with the tree setting. It can be secular or sacred, depending on the images you choose.

I used Stampin’ Up!’s Watercolor Paper with Aqua Painters and Stampin’ Ink Refills to color my images, after I had stamped and embossed them. Since it is a watercolor image, you aren’t looking for complete coverage. It actually looks better with white showing through (unless you are close up – ahem).

Coloring Tip – to make your water coloring dry faster, use rubbing alcohol instead of water, or a combination of both, if you are worried about the wash drying too fast. Water gives you more blending time.

Adding No Fuss Glimmer – Use the Two Way Glue Pen wherever you want some “see through” sparkles and shake on Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter. It’s quick and easy, plus it doesn’t cover your design, it just enhances it. I also added a punched a star in our Silver Glimmer paper, for a solid glimmer design.

Back it up – if your watercolor piece gets very wet, it will warp (like mine). Where I neatly glued the water color to a hidden mat, it stayed nicely flat, but I did miss a spot near the top, so just make sure you get complete adhesive coverage. I cut a mat just slightly smaller than my water color paper, so it wouldn’t show. I placed a piece of scrap paper over the top, and then a heavy book. After everything was dry and set, I popped the image on top of the Wisteria Wonder card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ll come back! To view my class list or purchase anything you have seen here, go to Stampin’ Bon.

The Stampin’ Up! Snowflake Die Thinlet makes a beautiful card, and you can use it just as it cuts, but I wanted to share how you can manipulate the die to make two easy additions.

Flip Flap – I prefer a private area to write a note (because I have horrible hand writing, and it ruins the nice design of the card), so on our flip cards, I extend the card design to achieve a flap that covers the inside sentiment and my personal note.

To do this, cut cardstock 5 7/16″ X 8 1/2″. Then slip the edge of the cardstock through the outside edge of the die, as shown above. Run the die through the Big Shot just like you always do. You will end up with a slight crease where you should fold the card over and it fits right under the “flip” element.

This is how it looks with the extra piece folded up, with the “flip” open.

This is how it looks completely open. I used the sentiment from Christmas Bliss.

To get a contrasting snowflake, cut a piece of coordinating cardstock about 3 1/2″ square and place it under the snowflake portion of the die. I chose Soft Sky to complement the Lost Lagoon card. Once you run it through the Big Shot, snip off the extra pieces that block some of your view of the edges, but be careful not to cut off the pieces that are not yet defined.

Make sure your die is face up for easier placement and turn your die cut piece 1/4″ turn and put back onto the die. Run it through the Big Shot and you will have a snowflake piece to add to your card.

Bling Bling – I’m making up for Wednesday with extra bling on this card. I stamped both snowflakes with the coordinating Letterpress stamp set in Encore Silver Metalic ink. On the front snowflake, I used Iridescant Ice Stampin’ Emboss Powder, so I would have a glittery but flatter image, because I wanted to add Rhinestone Basic Jewels. On the back, I set the ink with Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder, so I’d have a lovely image to stand on it’s own. I didn’t want Rhinestones inside, because they would put dents in the opposing side of the card.

No Fuss Design – I used one of the smallest rolls from the All Is Calm Washi tape and pressed it to each side of the card, then trimmed the ends with Paper Snips. Stampin’ Up!’s snips are great for getting a close cut and are easy to maneuver because of their precision size. This added a touch of designer paper feel, without any work.

Keep it Simple – I didn’t want the whole card embossed, but I like the silver ink contrasting against the Lost Lagoon cardstock, so I heat set the the stamped images I didn’t want to emboss using the Heat Tool. You can also just wait for the designs to dry, but in a humid climate like Georgia, that could be awhile.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found some inspiration to change up your own dies. To view my class list or purchase anything you have seen here, go to Stampin’ Bon.

I make cards for Hero Hugs (Post here), and while I love to add bling and sparkles to my cards as a rule, I cannot do that with these cards. They are going to deployed men and women in the military and no glitter is allowed.

This card looks great with some Rhinestone Basic Jewels on a few of the flakes, but I compromised with Mini Brads. They dress it up a little while still keeping our soldiers safe.

The Merry sentiment can certainly stand alone, but I like a complete thought, so I added the Christmas from the Watercolor Winter Too stamp set. I finished it off with a stylized bow from the Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon in the holiday catalog, which matches the ink and cardstock. This is a simple and pretty card you can make in large quantities in no time at all, and if you make it for non-military friends and family, use the Rhinestones. You’ll love the effect!

I will be hosting a Hero Hugs event in Marietta, and will post details soon. If you are in the area, and can come help make cards, I’d love to have you. I keep the cards simple so any adult is able to make them look nice, and even if crafting isn’t your specialty, all the cards need a personal message, so you can come just write kind thoughts to our soldiers.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back Wednesday for my take on the Snowflake Card made with the new Thinlet die in the holiday catalog. To view my class list or purchase anything, go to Stampin’ Bon.

When most people think of background papers, they think of a completed design that just adds to a project, but with a special set like Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP), you can do more, including stamping directly on it, for a stunning effect.

I stamped the Swallowtail background stamp onto the Typeset (DSP) in Island Indigo ink, and then coordinated the 1/4″ cotton ribbon and cardstock in the same color, adding Basic Black to round out the design. Some light sponging on the edges of the Elegant and Bitty Butterfly punched images helps the DSP stand out. I did the same with the Joy die cut from the Snowflake Card Thinlets. The curvy banner behind Joy is from the Bitty Banners Framelits.

You can’t tell from the picture (I admit it, I’m a terrible photographer), but the picture above is an envelope sized box that is 1″ deep to hold a dimensional card (or a set of cards). I used the Envelope Punch Board to make it, and the layers are die cut with the Labels Collection Framelits. I threw some snips of Black Taffeta Ribbon on there just for fun.

This picture focuses in on another use of the Typeset DSP, a flower shape made with the 1 3/4″ Scallop punch. I punched six pieces, wet them, wadded them up, and slightly flattened them out to dry.

After they dried, I inked the edges with VersaMark ink and embossed them in Basic Black Stampin’ Emboss powder. That helped to crinkle them up more.

Next I stacked them, pierced the middle and used a brad to hold the pieces together, and then I started my “squishing” technique.

Just gather each layer and squish it up and into place, until all layers are bunched up into a lovely design.

I could have left this “as is”, but I wanted it to stand out more, so I put several drops of Island Indigo Ink Refill and rubbing alcohol into a Stampin’ Spritzer and spritzed my flower until it was the color intensity I liked.

Just for fun, I made an extra item so you could see the Typeset DSP used with the Spiral Flower Originals die.

It is a totally different look from one made with solid cardstock, and can appear vintage or contemporary, depending on the particular sheet of the Typeset you use, and the project you choose.

I hope this gave you some inspiration for uses of Stampin’ Up!’s versatile Typeset DSP. I can’t wait to give this card and box to a friend who just published her second book. I am sure she will get the connection.

Thanks for stopping by and come back Monday for more fun!

To purchase anything you have seen her or get a list of my classes, visit Stampin’ Bon.

Today I’m featuring another Stampin’ Up! set called Tag Talk which works for birthdays, baby showers, congratulations, wedding, and gift tags. It’s a favorite set because it has three coordinating punches, (Label Bracket, 1″ round and 1″ square punches) and has so many uses.

Above and below are two cards made with the set, using the same layout, but focusing on different Designer Series Paper and cardstock.

I could have left the wedding card just as is, and it would be a very nice neutral card, even with the Rhinestone Basic Jewels I added, but I really wanted a bow. And I usually get what I want, at least when it comes to crafting!

Let the Designer Series paper pick your colors – Stampin’ Up!’s paper coordinates with the cardstock, and the coordinating colors are listed on the packet as well as in the catalog. The coordinating work is done for you.

For the wedding card, I used Typeset Specialty Designer Series paper, Basic Black and Vanilla cardstock, and Basic Black Taffeta ribbon. I used VersaMark ink and Basic Black Stampin’ Emboss powder to enhance the wedding sentiment.

Subtle changes make a difference -I wanted a softer look to the striped punch out on the baby card, so I inked my stamp in Hello Honey, stamped it onto scratch paper, and then stamped onto Whisper White for a water colored look. The Pistachio Pudding is already a soft color so I stamped it directly.

Two for one – The Typeset paper is thinner, and is great for special layering and manipulating techiques (I will show examples on Friday), but still gives great coverage as a striking mat.

Thanks for stopping by and come back Friday to see some fun ways to use the Typeset Specialty Designer Series paper.

Go to Stampin’ Bon to view my available classes and to link to my store.

Today I’m featuring a multipurpose Stampin’ Up! set called Oh My Goodies. You can cover birthdays, thanks, hello, and gift tags for yummy treats with this one set. Choosing your colors will determine if the card is neutral or leans masculine or feminine. The set has a matching die in the Deco Labels Framelits dies, so it makes it easy to pop out the design. The layout below is easy and is great for making multiples to have ready all year.

I’ll start with the masculine leaning birthday card. I used Sweet Taffee Designer Series Paper and took the color cue from the design. For my standard base, I used Rich Razzleberry cardstock, and then matted the largest banner in Tempting Turquoise and the smallest banner in Daffodil Delight. All three banners are cut with the Banners Framelits dies. For the medium sized banner, I chose Old Olive and also stamped the sentiment in Old Olive ink. For the feminine card, I used the dots from the Sweet Taffy paper, rather than the hexagons, and used Melon Mambo for the cardstock and ink (only stamped pieces shown in the last picture).

For the thank you card above, I chose Rich Razzleberry ink for the sentiment, but backed it with Melon Mambo, so the banner wouldn’t blend in with the card piece. Because I used the dotted Designer Series piece on this card, I think it has a more feminine appeal, so if you were making it for a male, you may want to use the hex design, rather than the dots. At least that is the opinion of a teenage boy, whose mother (my friend) takes my classes. I know whenever I’m helping her to come up with cards for him “no dots!”.

If you notice above and below, changing the supplemental sentiment also effects the style of the card. I chose the Cheers from the And Many More stamp set for the card above because of it’s plain design. Below, I wanted something that went with the thanks sentiment, and really liked the Petite Pairs set, but didn’t want the first word “to” of the sentiment to throw off my wording, so I used a Stampin’ Write marker to just ink the rest of the words, “huffed” onto the stamp and then stamped my image, below.

The large sentiment and it’s banner are both popped up with Stampin’ Up! Dimensionals (I buy a pack, ever time I place an order), but the rest of the card pieces are all adhered directly down. I use either Tombo Liquid or Snail adhesive, depending on my mood.

Below you will see the more feminine choice for the birthday sentiment ( I would place this on the style above). You can also see the Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper pictured in the catalog, and imagine all the fun color choices you could use with this same card layout, using the same stamp set.

I chose a curvier font sentiment from the Sumthin’ Sumthin’ stamp set for the feminine pairing. For the hello card, I would probably use Stampin’ Write markers and color each line of word and the border in different colors, and for the “goodies” stamp, I would stamp it twice in two different colors, and use the large oval punch and Dimensionals to pop out that middle sentiment. Yes, that means one of the pieces is discarded after, which does go against my beliefs, but aesthetics comes first in my card making.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back Wednesday for more fun, and don’t forget, this Wednesday, September 10th is the last day to sign up for two months of Paper Pumpkin at half price. Click Here to purchase a Paper Pumpkin subscription, and click here to see how I changed up my August kit.

Go to Stampin’ Bon to view my available classes and to link to my store.

Happy Friday everyone. On Wednesday, I showed you a beautiful stamp from Stampin’ Up! called Happy Hanukkah, and used it in the traditional way, for a Hanuakkah card (see it here). As promised, I wanted you to see that it is a stamp that works for more than one event. See how delightfully creepy it becomes as a Halloween candelabra!

I used an additional stamp set called Bite Me, that comes in photopolymer (see through stamps), so it makes positioning the design very easy. I think the two sets work great together. For the web design, I stamped in VersaMark and then embossed with Iridescent Ice Stampin’ Emboss Powder, so the web would have that gossamer effect. I used Black StazOn for the spiders and Happy Halloween sentiment. The sentiment is cut with the banner piece from the Snowflake Card Thinlets die. The Bite Me set comes with a line for the spider, but I wanted a finer thread, so I used a Smokey Slate Stampin’ Write marker to draw it on. Because the menorah (candelabra in this case) is such a finely detailed line drawing, I needed to give it a little more thickness, so the aesthetics would be closer to web. I used VersaMark ink and embossed it with Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder to make it a little more substantial.

The card is Basic Black, the Tangelo Twist backdrop piece is from the Confetti Celebration Designer Series Paper, and the mat is Smokey Slate. The sentiment is stamped on Tangelo Twist cardstock, but I sponged it slightly with Smokey Slate ink to grunge it up. I used Basic Black 1/8″ Tafetta Ribbon to add an accent to the sides, and I simply positioned each end of the ribbon behind the card and angled it until it looked right. I then used plain old scotch tape to secure the ends down. Even thought the mat is poppep up with Stampin’ Dimensionals, no one should be able to see that, except an inquisitive card maker of course. Card makers are special creatures who must discover all the secrets of every project!

Did you notice that the spider hanging down looks like it is coming off the page? Look closely below.

Obviously, I am an extremely skilled stamper, and carefully planned the effect . Oh come on now. Those of you who read my “About Me” page know I am just one for taking mistakes and making them work. When I accidentally rocked the spider slightly after stamping, I got a lighter ink mark where the legs were. I figured that would be my practice card, and I’d make another to photograph. After getting it all together, I actually liked how it looked. Perspective makes all the difference, so hang onto your mistakes. And don’t share your secrets like I do. People will just think you are fabulous!

Now, do you want to see something really scary? Every time I make a card in my office, this is what happens. I do straighten up after each card (ok, often,…ok, when I can’t find a flat surface), but I do try to keep myself contained. Otherwise, I go into my classroom area, where I have a gigantic table that sits 12, and you know, the more space you have, the more you spread your mess. I’m not the only one, right?

By the way, see the blue fake tupperware? I like to keep my embossing powders in these, with a plastic spoon and I spoon the powder over my cardstock, and let it fall back into the “tupperware”, trying to hit the little round container, but I don’t worry if it misses.

Hope I didn’t scare you away, and thanks for stopping by! Come back Monday to see some fun and easy cards made with the Oh My Goodies set.

To purchase anything you have seen here, or to view my class list, go to Stampin’ Bon.

And if you haven’t signed up for Paper Pumpkin, you only have until Wednesday to sign up for the half price for two months deal. Get the details here. This is from a previous post and shows how I changed up the monthly project.

Welcome to the very first InKing Royalty Blog Hop. For our very first hop, we’re excited to share projects that showcase the fun of the holidays – from Halloween through Christmas, this certainly is the season to be jolly!

You may have started the Blog Hop here or may have hopped over from Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery. After you read my post, I hope you’ll hop over to the next. If you get off track at any point during the blog hop, there’s a complete list of participants at the end of this post.

Here’s my project using Stampin’ Up!’s Happy Hanukkah stamp.

In earlier posts, I’ve shown some pretty Christmas cards you can make with the new Stampin’ Up Holiday sets, and ways you can use the sets year round. Now I would like to show the beauty of the Happy Hanukkah stamp, and I’ll show you another use on Friday. I can get a lot fancier with my Hanukkah cards because I only send a few, so this card has several steps.

An excuse to bling it – Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights, so it’s the perfect time to get your glitter on! I used Silver Glimmer paper, Silver Encore ink, Silver Stampin’ Emboss powder, Rhinestones, and the Silver stampin’ Dazzle marker. The first picture shows all my mats stamped together, but I later take the top two mats off, and pop them up with Dimensionals. The flourishes on the cardstock come from the Everything Eleanor set and are stamped in Night of Navy. I just traced along the side of some of them with the silver marker, and popped a few Rhinestones here and there.

Two Step Stamping – To get the variation of the menorah from the candles and flames, I stamped the image on a post it note, and cut it apart where the menorah ends and the candles start. I placed the lower part of the cut image on my paper, inked up the upper part of my stamp with White Craft Stampin’ Ink and used the stamp-a-ma-jig to line up where my stamp should go. I used White Stampin’ Emboss Powder to set the image.

I then inked the menorah part of the stamp with Silver Encore Ink, lay the top part of the post it note over the candles, and used my stamp-a- ma-jig to line up my stamp. Once stamped, I embossed with Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder.

Coloring Fun – I used the Light Night of Navy and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities to color the candles and flame. Brush very gently when you do this, so you don’t damage the marker nibs. I used two layers of the Light Night of Navy marker, as each time you lay a color down with these alcohol markers, the color becomes more intense. Blendabilities are a specialty coloring tool that have lots of uses. The cardstock is Soft Sky and Night of Navy.

I hand colored the “Happy Hanukkah” sentiment on the bottom of the stamp with the Stampin’ Write Night of Navy marker, so I would have a clean image to die cut. I used the banner Framelit from the Snowflake Card Thinlit to frame the sentiment, and backed it with Silver Glimmer paper cut using the second largest Framelit in the Chalk Talk set. I cut the sides off where the outer curve happens, to get a smaller backdrop. The Glimmer behind my menorah is cut with the largest Apothecary Accents Framelit, and the menorah itself is cut with the second largest Deco Labels Framelit.

Almost everything is popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. You especially want to pop up the sentiment base (Night of Navy) so it will stop the card from sliding forward when open. I always use Dimensionals when I attach anything to Stampin’ Up! Glimmer paper because it gets between the crevices of the glitter and really holds on.

Once you have your card face finished, use Tombow liquid glue to adhere it to the short part of the card base. Just put adhesive on the Soft Sky so you don’t accidentally get adhesive where you don’t want it. Look at the picture below to see how the card pieces go together on the base. This creates a standard A2 card that will fit in a regular A2 envelope.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you’ll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Kelly DeTommaso at Kelly’s Creative Corner. You certainly won’t want to miss any of these projects.

I like to make cards for Hero Hugs, an organization that sends care packages to our deployed men and women in the military. Because I want to send a lot, I have friends help me, and not everyone is a crafter or even specifically, a card maker. That’s when a simple design and monochrome colors can make for a really quick, but nice card.

I didn’t get pictures of every color when I was snapping away, but I did have my friends make these cards in all five 2014 – 2016 In Colors, and let them choose the design from the set Timeless Talk. The ribbons on the cards are all from the same In Color set. The ribbons have a really soft texture and light shine to them, and are all rich colors. I think the Hello Honey is my favorite, because it really comes off as golden, and I could see using it for a variation of gold on Christmas cards, and for Thanksgiving. To keep this card simple, I had my friends staple the ribbon pieces on the side. I think it is a nice effect that is good for both masculine and feminine cards.

The Get Well stamp, which was current when I designed the cards in May, came from a set called Pefecty Penned. It retired in June, but you could easily change out the sentiment. Sassy Salutations has a really cute font and would work great on this card.

The top of the card is punched with the Spiral Border punch. To make the assembly faster, I pre-punched and pre-cut all the card pieces, so my friends could just stamp, staple, adhere and assemble.

Hero Hugs needs Get Well and Thank You cards all the time, which is why you see the same sentiment. The cards need to be no larger than 5.5″ X 4″ to fit in the care packages. I cut 1/2 inch off the short side of 8.5″ X 11″ cardstock, and then cut the length in half to end up with two bases. Another biggie is no glitter, but you can read the specifications here. Just page down to the card section. Bailey doesn’t update this page anymore, as she is a very busy young lady, but does post pictures to the Hero Hugs Facebook when she has time.

Special thanks to my friends in Lavina and Billings, MT who helped me make these cards, and many more. I can’t post all the designs and pictures-especially since the Sea Street Octopus card doesn’t fit the same criteria of this post, but I’ll try to post it later, because it is adorable and patriotic at the same time. I will be visiting Montana in May/June 2015 and will host another event in Lavina, for those out west who want to help make cards. I will post Hero Hug card pictures another day, highlighting cards made by my Georgia friends.

Thanks for stopping by. See you on Wednesday for a special Blog Hop with the InKing Royalty members.

To purchase any of the current products seen here or to find out about classes and events I offer, visit Stampin’ Bon.

I’m a member of InKing Royalty and

It's your time to play!

Previous Posts

Class Location

The content in this blog is the sole responsibility of Bonnie Garrett as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and the use of and content of classes, services or products offered is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!